Cowboys ‘confident’ of deal with Tom Dearden, close in on Jordan McLean’s signature

The Cowboys’ GM of football provides updates on the potential signatures of Tom Dearden, Jordan McLean, and Kulikefu Finefeuiaki as the clock ticks. Discover where the club stands.

North Queensland want Tom Dearden to stay, there’s no questioning that.

But the question on the lips of the rugby league world is far more complex: Does Dearden want to remain a Cowboy, or will he be tempted by cashed-up offers from the south?

Cowboys football chief Micheal Luck believes it’s the former.

“He knows we want to keep him, he wants to stay,” Luck said.

“Hopefully we’ll get a deal worked through over the next few weeks.”

Tom Dearden is set to hit the open market on November 1. Picture: Getty Images

Restricting the Cowboys ability to secure the star playmaker’s future are the long-term deals binding them to Jason Taumalolo, Valentine Holmes, and Jeremiah Nanai.

Taumalolo still has four years to run on a contract that’s believed to be worth close to $1M per season, while Holmes still has two years to run on a six-year extension worth $875,000 this season.

State of Origin player Jeremiah Nanai takes a selfie for Katherine Mara and Fanny Tamwoy at the Queensland Maroons fan day, a meet the players session at Barlow Park. Picture: Brendan Radke

North Queensland extended Nanai through the 2027 season on an eye-watering contract understood to be worth approximately $900,000 per season.

It’s expected Dearden’s agent, who also negotiated Nanai’s extension last year, will take him to the open market on November 1.

What happens from there is dependant on negotiations between the Cowboys and Dearden.

Luck wouldn’t comment whether the Cowboys had the desire or capacity to increase their current offer to Dearden, reportedly valued at $650,000 per season over three years.

“We will continue to engage with his agent in the coming weeks to sort Tom’s future with our club sooner rather than later,” Luck said.

While he spoke of the Cowboys love for Dearden, Luck also explained why he believes Dearden wants to remain at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

Tom Dearden celebrates with team mates after scoring a try. Picture: Getty Images

“We love Tommy, we think he’s done a really good job of growing his game and his leadership capacity under Todd (Payten’s) tutelage,” Luck said.

“He knows how much he means to us as a club... he‘s found his home with this group, he’s got some close friends there.

“I think he’s done a really good job under Todd’s coaching and the style that Toddy manages him in is pretty good.

“We’re confident, we’ll keep working through the agreement.”

Dearden is off-contract at the end of the 2024 season and will become a free agent for rivals to approach on November 1.

Luck also provided an update on the contract status of sought-after prop Jordan McLean.

“We’re confident we’ll have something finalised in the next week or so,” Luck revealed.

As for breakout star Kulikefu Finefeuiaki, Luck expects the young forward to attract “big interest”.

“We’ll see how that looks over the next few weeks, we’ve been blessed that we’ve got a really talented group of back-rowers... Kuli’s been lucky to come through under those guys and learn,” Luck said.

“We’re comfortable with what we’ve got for 2024.

“We’ve got a fair number of guys off contract at the end of 2024, so we’ll see how we start the season and we’ll make some decisions from there.”

Originally published as Cowboys ‘confident’ of deal with Tom Dearden, close in on Jordan McLean’s signature